"Houston, We Have a Problem"

"Houston, we have a problem" 

...and it's not Apollo 13! (Actually the famous line is "Houston, we've had a problem," but that's beside the point.)

The problem I'm referencing is flooding. Yeah, it's all that concrete. There's nowhere for the water to go when it rains. Right around Beltway 8 and 59, on Beechnut and Bellaire, we would lose cars, literally, lose cars in the water. Houston gets so hot during the summer months and we have lots of trees. The humidity builds up...and up... and up...until it rains. I do not mean a light shower. We have downpours and huge thunderstorms. They are really beautiful if you are in your home looking out a window but they are horrible if you are in your car. The best thing to do is find a parking lot high above the streets and wait. That's not what most people do. Unfortunately, these rains usually occur from 4-6 pm when everyone is driving home from work. They've had a rough day and they just want to get home and relax. Along comes the downpour and soon they are stuck in traffic while the water rises and rises. We've actually had freeways turn into rivers during some of these downpours and it can be scary.

This story over the next few days is dedicated to one incredible city council member and his brilliant solution to the flooding problem at Beechnut and Beltway 8: Arthur Storey. This great Houstonian decided to build a draining system and turn all that storm water into wetlands...real wetlands...right in the middle of the city! Birds come from all over the area to call Arthur Storey Park their home. I take a lot of great shots at this park.  

 Here are some of my bird shots:

And my favorite bird is very elusive:  

  (all shots are copyrighted by dianne curtis / all rights reserved)